Weddings and Confrontations
by Bull
Summary: At the wedding and reception, what will happen? Luke confronts Lorelai. L/L and R/J
1. Watching

Title: Wedding Confrontations  
  
Author: Bull  
  
Pairing: L/L, R/J  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the program used to write these words.  
  
AN: Please R/R. I am mad that I made this short, but I decided to make actual chapters for this story. Assuming there is someone out there who actually reads and likes this, I will definitely have more chapters soon. Lots of chapters are in my notebook now, so as soon as I type them up they are yours!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Luke plays with the condiments on his countertop. No one is at Luke's diner; they are all at Sookie's wedding. He wonders what is happening at this moment. Could the wedding be over yet? He doesn't think so. Luke's thoughts turn to Lorelai and Rory, as usual, as he bats the mustard back and forth between his palms. He smiles as he pictures them in their bridesmaid dresses, walking down the path. Then Luke grimaces. The fight with Lorelai is too recent; it is still a tender subject for him. He can't believe he held his ground against her this long. After all, he will usually do anything for her. Luke isn't exactly sure why he isn't just giving in and accepting her apology. He knows she means well, but he just keeps thinking of the harsh words she used that night. Angry at himself for dwelling on Lorelai for so long, Luke turns his thoughts to Jess. Surely he is at the wedding, hiding in the back somewhere. Bored, Luke decides to head over and find Jess. At least he will be able to watch the ceremony from a distance. Oh sure, he got an invitation. But he declined. He didn't think he could watch Lorelai that long, even for Sookie's sake. Luke flips the Closed sign to the front before heading out.  
  
Jess watches as Rory and he mother prepare to walk down the aisle. Nice is a major understatement, Jess thinks, Rory looks breathtaking. She tastes good too. Jess almost blushes at the thought of the kiss. It was only minutes ago, but it already felt like a dream. It couldn't be though, the feel of her lips, of her warmth, was too perfect to be just a dream. Caught up in his thoughts, Jess nearly misses the sound of footsteps behind him, a sound he was taught to keep aware of so long ago, in the city. He turns around slowly to see Luke coming up to him.  
  
"Hey," Luke says. "How far along are they?"  
  
"Oh, the wedding just started. See, Lorelai and Rory are walking down the aisle now." Jess finds it amusing to see the look on Luke's face every time Lorelai's name is mentioned. Today, though, he sees pain too. "Did something happen?"  
  
"What?" Luke asks, even though he knows exactly what Jess is referring to.  
  
"Between you and Lorelai."  
  
"Just a little quarrel."  
  
"Uh huh." Jess says this with a skeptic look.  
  
Luke sighs, "Okay, it was definitely bigger than a quarrel. You've seen Pearl Harbor? The Japanese had nothing compared to our fight."  
  
"But you've had fights before, and you're always back to flirting again by the next day. What was this about?"  
  
Letting the quip about flirting slide by, Luke says "Well the night you and Rory got in that accident, Lorelai flipped out. She, along with the rest of the town, thinks the accident was entirely your fault. She told me to go to hell, and I told her the same. Things haven't been the same since."  
  
Jess actually looks concerned. "I didn't mean to cause all this trouble for you."  
  
Luke waves him off. "It wasn't your fault. Lorelai has tried to apologize a few times now. She even wrote me a note. I don't know why I won't accept it."  
  
"Wow, you have the upper hand for once. Maybe you won't accept because she'll just want to be friends again. Just a guess, but you never seemed very happy about being just friends with her."  
  
Luke gruffly switched the subject, embarrassed that Jess just summarized his feelings better than he ever could. "Have you talked to Rory yet?"  
  
Jess nearly blushes again. He gets a stupid smirk on his face. "Talk? No.no we definitely didn't talk too much. But hey, who needs talking."  
  
"Rory doesn't think you were responsible for the accident though?" Luke asks, confused.  
  
"No, I think she blames herself more than me."  
  
Luke smiles. "She's a great kid. Smart too."  
  
Jess' eyes glaze over as he thinks about Rory.  
  
Luke brings him back to reality. "Jess, tell me what happened!"  
  
"She kissed me." He says matter-of-factly.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"She kissed me." When he realizes what he has done, "Oh, shoot. She told me not to tell anyone. You better not tell anyone or she'll hate me."  
  
"I won't. She kissed you? SHE kissed YOU? Oh god, Lorelai will kill me when she finds out I know. She'll kill you too!" He pauses. "What about Dean?"  
  
"She's still with him as far as I can tell."  
  
"Then why.?"  
  
"I don't think she meant to."  
  
Luke and Jess continue watching the wedding, more specifically the Gilmores, in silence. Enough was said between them to know that the two men will get along better now that Jess wants to be in Stars Hollow. 


	2. The Fight

AN: Anyone else getting completely psyched about the premiere tomorrow? Eee Heee (lol, dunno if I used that right or not.) I didn't have it too bad until last night, when I started dreaming about it! Something along the lines of the cast coming to my house to film there, or maybe just hang out with me. Lorelai was played by an old lady who looked horrible until the makeup and wig went on. No one seemed to want to be at my house either, so it was forced conversation. I actually think I paid to get everyone there, and a lot of horses around the yard. (Tie it in with Lorelai's idea of a wedding proposal and it makes sense.) So anyway, the forced conversation was me blubbering about the spoilers (dumb since they already would have known, they filmed it!) I think there was something about sandwiches too, don't even ask me to tie that in. I changed my settings so now I can get anonymous reviews, I didn't know it didn't accept them so thanks to Luke-Lorelai-ash for telling me. Keep reviewing, it makes writing so much easier! Oh, and I had another idea. I'm basically going down the Luke and Lorelai path with this story, what if I did another story that would tie in with this one with R/J? I don't know if I will do that or not, since the premiere is TOMORROW and I don't think I like writing about stuff that already happened a different way. Tell me what you think!  
  
  
  
Sookie and Jackson kiss, the kiss of love and hope that has been a custom since we can remember. On Sookie's left, Rory and Lorelai stand, watching with smiles plastered on their faces. They are happy for Sookie, but are too worried to show it in a realistic way. Each Gilmore is thinking of their respective man, and wondering how to tell each other what happened without upsetting each other. Neither Gilmore notices their admirers watching them from a distance.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Later  
  
Inside, Lane turns the music on, and everyone cheers as Sookie and Jackson begin their first dance as a married couple. Sookie looks happier than Lorelai had ever seen her, and that includes when she is cooking. Lorelai wonders if the day will ever come for her to feel as happy as Sookie is. This thought leads to Max briefly, and then to Chris. Lorelai turns and walks to the nearest wall. She needs to have something to lean on, and she needs to be close to the exit so she can get out if she starts bawling.  
  
As Lorelai is standing there, she wonders where Rory is. Something was different about Rory when she came running up to take her flowers. Lorelai starts to worry that Rory is avoiding her, which makes her that much closer to crying. She leans more heavily on the wall as she scans the room to find her. Suddenly, Miss Patty comes up to her, blocking her view.  
  
"Lorelai! You aren't dancing with anybody! Where did Rory's father go?"  
  
"Uh, I think he's in the bathroom or something."  
  
Now Miss Patty already saw Chris drive off. She never misses a trick. But she let Lorelai pretend he was still there, after seeing the expression on her face. It almost kills her to keep quiet. Finally she says, "I know a few men around here, if you need anyone to dance with." Miss Patty pulls a few pictures out of her purse, and shows them to Lorelai who closes her eyes.  
  
"Thanks, but I can get my own man."  
  
"Are you sure? Oh well, if you need my help I've got tons of men who will come over here in an instant."  
  
"Yes, Miss Patty, I'm sure."  
  
Miss Patty walks away, muttering about how stubborn Lorelai is.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
All the unmarried women are lined up on one side of the room, men on the other. Rory jokes about how she will beat Lorelai to the bouquet, but stops abruptly. That comment (like everything else) starts Lorelai thinking of Chris again. Lorelai looks over to the side of the room, where Emily is watching. Emily walks quickly to Lorelai.  
  
"Lorelai, what do you think you are doing?" she whispers.  
  
"I think I am waiting for a bouquet to be flung over my head, what does it look like I'm doing?"  
  
Emily rolls her eyes. "You're letting Rory participate in this! She's an impressionable girl, what will she think if she catches the bouquet and realizes that she will get married before you?"  
  
"Maybe she'll think it's a tradition."  
  
"Honestly Lorelai, you can be so irresponsible sometimes!"  
  
"This isn't real, mother. It's a fun tradition that has been around since the 14th century, and it's not going to hurt anyone or even make anyone believe that it's true."  
  
"I still think you should try to get it before her, at all costs."  
  
Lorelai came to a realization. "You're hoping it does work, aren't you?"  
  
"What? That's ridiculous!"  
  
"You want to see me get married."  
  
"Oh, please."  
  
"Don't 'oh, please' me mother. You want me to steal the bouquet from my own daughter so I will get married before her!"  
  
"Lorelai, stop it. I did not intend for this to turn into a crime scene, I just don't think it's appropriate for Rory to see her mother unmarried while she has an engagement token in her hands."  
  
"So you did want to see me married."  
  
Emily glares at her. "Fine, I wanted to see you marry Christopher. Is that what you wanted to hear? That I have some crazy idea in the back of my head that now that you are with Rory's father, you will actually marry him? Is that so hard to believe?"  
  
Lorelai looks at the ground.  
  
"Well I hope you're happy. You've embarrassed me in public, did you get what you wanted now?"  
  
"Mom, Chris and I aren't together anymore."  
  
"What? I demand to know why not. You were fawning over him like a puppy just an hour ago."  
  
"It's not important."  
  
"Of course it is!"  
  
"Fine, alright. His girlfriend's pregnant. Happy?"  
  
"Oh." Emily is about to ask how Lorelai could have slept with him when he had a girlfriend still, then decides to drop it at the last second. "I'm sorry."  
  
"I am too."  
  
Miss Patty has convinced the whole town to stand aside so Rory and Lorelai will be the only ones jumping for it. She thinks it will help Lorelai get a man. She is too drunk to jump for it herself anyway, or she would claim the bouquet in an instant.  
  
Finally, the bouquet comes flying as the rest of the town stands aside. Caught up in the moment, Lorelai snatches the bouquet just before it would have fallen into her daughter's arms. Rory protests but is happy to see her mother spunky after the conversation with Emily. She didn't hear the actual conversation, but she could tell it wasn't pleasant. Lorelai starts to joke about how she doesn't want Rory to make the same mistakes she did, and had to shield her from it by snatching the bouquet. She loses heart quickly though, and heads back to the wall to sulk. 


	3. Talking

AN: Only an hour and a half until the premiere! Eee hee (for the trend setter) I need to hurry up and get this typed up! Oh, and one reviewer was exactly right on where I was going with this, sorry if it was too obvious, oh well.  
  
On the other side of the room, where Lorelai is staring, Miss Patty has convinced all the unmarried guys to back off, except for a selected few. Kirk refused to leave, so he was there with an uncomfortable looking Luke and Jess. They were still sticking together, even inside. Watching an animated conversation about Kirk's suit and harsh childhood, Lorelai bitterly wonders what Luke is even doing there. Doesn't he have to do diner stuff? And since when does he come to social events, excluding the town meetings? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "My parents always gave me my brothers and sisters old clothes. Every other person in my family got new clothes, but not me.  
  
Luke tunes Kirk out and stares across the room at Lorelai. It would seem as if she was staring back, but no, she is looking at Miss Patty and the rest of the men. He finds it unusual to see the queen of the town alone instead of with Rory or anyone else for that matter. She is usually always joking or messing with peoples' heads. Luke turns to Jess, who smirks when he realizes who Luke was staring at.  
  
"Jess, you were here longer than I was. Do you know what happened to her?"  
  
Jess is about to answer when Kirk cuts in. "Hey, are you guys even listening to me?"  
  
"No Kirk, go away. Can't you see we're in the middle of something."  
  
"Wait, before you shoo me away like a common house fly, I might know something about Lorelai's condition."  
  
"What, Kirk?"  
  
"Well you must know how important this information is. I think a fee of $1.50 a sentence is reasonab-"  
  
"Just tell me Kirk."  
  
"Fine. Lorelai was hanging all over some man, if you must know. He wasn't dressed as nice as me though. It's impossible to compete with a suit like this."  
  
Slightly disturbed, Luke ignores Kirk again and turns back to Jess. "Do you know who the guy was?"  
  
"Maybe," Jess says smugly.  
  
"Please Jess. Can't you at least describe him?"  
  
"Well I could say he looked like a Brad Pitt kind of hot, but Brad is totally ugly, so I'm going to have to say he's a Carson D-"  
  
"Jess."  
  
"Look, I don't know much. Before Rory ki-" he halts, realizing if anyone overheard him he would be breaking his promise to Rory. He clears his throat. "Before Rory came, she was with a guy around Lorelai's age that I haven't seen before. He looked a little like Rory; it probably could have been her father. Then he got a phone call and walked away, and you know the rest."  
  
Luke sighs. He wonders how Lorelai can switch from man to man so many times. Silently, he hopes that one day she will be able to confide in him like that. Luke looks up, and sees Jackson about to throw the garter. He positions himself in front of Kirk; he doesn't want to have to hear more of what Kirk read about women if Kirk gets it. As the garter flies overhead, Jess dives in front of Luke. He dives a little too far though; his momentum has sent him flying across the room. Luke snatches the garter and quickly walks away so he doesn't have to see Kirk's disappointed face. He hears Kirk muttering to someone behind him about how unfair it is that he is short.  
  
Luke walks over to Jess, who came to a stop right near the Gilmores. Great, Luke thinks, this will give him an opportunity to talk to Lorelai without looking too eager to talk to her. Jess probably wants to talk to Rory while she is away from Dean anyway. He looks past Jess casually, then walks over to Lorelai.  
  
"Hey," Luke says gently.  
  
"Hi." Lorelai stares at the garter which he holds proudly. Can you hold something proudly? She doesn't know, and frankly doesn't care at the moment. She looks down at her bouquet.  
  
"So the wedding was nice." Luke breaks the awkward silence that had formed between them.  
  
"Yeah, great."  
  
Luke is shocked. Is Lorelai really mad at him? He didn't do anything to her. Maybe she is just frustrated at his attitude toward her. Or maybe she genuinely hates him, and only apologized before so she could get her coffee in the mornings. They are friends though, or were. He searches for something to say that will bring her back to the Lorelai he knows and loves, and can't help what slips out.  
  
"You look beautiful."  
  
Those three words were enough to snap Lorelai out of it.  
  
"Uh, thanks," she mutters as she tries to bring herself back to reality. She can barely look at Luke, but when she does he holds her in a deep stare that seems to read into her soul. Lorelai can't turn away from him.  
  
As Luke gazes into her eyes, he realizes that he isn't the one who made her bitter. She still has the same spark in her eyes that has kept his hope up that one day she will love him. But he also sees pain, and knows he needs to be blunt if he wants to help her get rid of it.  
  
"Lorelai, what's wrong? Did someone hurt you?" Luke asks urgently. He half expects her to day he did, even though he knows that isn't true.  
  
Lorelai isn't ready to confess, especially to someone who doesn't even care. If he cared he would have accepted her apology. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just moody, you know, because of the wedding."  
  
"That's not it and you know it. Christopher did something to you didn't he?"  
  
Lorelai openly gapes at him. How could he know? She looks nervously around the room, then slowly brings her eyes back to his gaze. Her pride almost gets in the way, but she finally realizes that he is trying to be there for her; that she can't just push him away. A tear slides down her cheek. Lorelai grabs Luke's hand and drags him outside. As soon as they are out the door, Lorelai collapses into Luke's waiting arms.  
  
Although Luke is taken aback, he quickly recovers and embraces her. For a moment, his mind wonders why he is suddenly ready to befriend her again, but he squashes the thought right away. Lorelai needs him now, that is all that matters in the entire world. Luke waits patiently for her to tell him what is wrong. He isn't ready to pull back from her anyway, no matter how selfish that is. He draws her closer and feels the wetness of her tears on his chest. His heart leaps in his chest, what could Christopher have done to hurt her this badly?  
  
Eventually Lorelai pulls back, and the two walk over to the benches from Sookie's wedding. Luke sits down first, and pulls Lorelai down onto his lap. She buries her head in his neck, and he grips her tightly.  
  
"What did he do to you?" He doesn't want to have to ask, but it is killing him not knowing what he can do about her pain.  
  
"He lied, he left us. Rory doesn't know yet. He went back to Sherry, after telling us he was here for good this time. Sherry's pregnant."  
  
"What! He knew Sherry was pregnant, but he still let you think he was staying?"  
  
Lorelai jumps when he yells, but hastily explains. "No, he didn't know until the wedding, at least I don't think he did. He's not that cruel."  
  
But Luke is ready for a rant. "He did the same thing to you sixteen years ago! He just took off again. He's a jerk; you never deserved that kind of treatment the first time or this time. How many times has he left you? But you keep on going back to him. You just set yourself up, Lorelai."  
  
She moans, and her tears start falling faster. "I know, I know. I hate that I do this. He's just got some charm about him, the same thing that tempted me when I was Rory's age. He comes near me and I lose self- control."  
  
"Rory's going away this summer."  
  
"Yes. How did you find out?"  
  
"Please, it's Stars Hollow. Word travels fast around here."  
  
"Okay. Not to sound narcissistic, but what does that have to do with me?"  
  
"I think you could use a vacation." 


	4. Paranoid

AN: I am in need of major help now. I don't have much more in my notebook, because I haven't had time to write at night. If you have any ideas (I mean any, I'm desperate, lol) please e-mail me at albull_2000@yahoo.com. The ideas can be for R/J too because I can't think of anything to do with them. Hope you write me. Also, I need a place that would be semi-romantic, semi- expensive for Luke to take Lorelai. So did you all watch the premiere? I think I watched the dream 15 times already (I'm a total Java Junkie, lol.)  
  
"A vacation?"  
  
"Yeah. Let's go somewhere, just you and me. Sookie will be on her honeymoon, and Rory will be in Washington D.C. anyway. You could use a break from Stars Hollow."  
  
"Alright, we'll go." She pauses. "Where do you want to go?"  
  
Luke laughs to himself. Anywhere, as long as she was there. "I don't know. Where do you want to go? Never mind," he says hastily at Lorelai's impish grin. "I can tell that could just go on forever. And if you haven't noticed, I'm not the biggest Jungle Book fan," he hurries as she starts to cut in.  
  
"That's because you're a trekkie. It's probably against the code to obsess over anything else."  
  
That didn't stop me from obsessing over you, Luke thinks. But she doesn't even know how he feels about her. To her, this vacation is just a friendly type thing. He notices that she is still waiting for a retort about how he wasn't a trekkie, and wonders how she could go through so many emotions in just a few minutes. Mad, then sad, now perky and flirting as usual. So should he take her bait and retort back as usual, or just admit it? If he admits it he will never live it down, not that he would anyway. "I wasn't a trekkie," he finally says. It is fun to watch her, so happy and carefree.  
  
"And once again, ladies and gentlemen, he violates the code."  
  
"Yeah, well."  
  
"Well said."  
  
Luke rolls his eyes. "So where would you be the most relaxed on vacation?" He is careful to word it so there will be no Jungle Book connections.  
  
"We could go to a spa, like the one I went to with my mother. Hmm, you don't seem like a spa kind of guy though."  
  
Anywhere, he thinks. "Nah, not really."  
  
"I don't know then, why don't you surprise me?"  
  
"Okay," Luke says. It can't be too hard to pick a place she will like, can it?  
  
Lorelai is shocked that he agreed so quickly, but she doesn't say anything about it. She looks at him one last time before thanking him for being willing to take her away. He is right, it is just what she needs. Lorelai starts to lean toward Luke, then thinks better of it when she is just a few inches from his face. She adjusts her head so it is once again buried in his neck, before he realizes what she almost did.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next day  
  
"Rory," Lorelai calls.  
  
Rory walks into the living room. "What?" She sits down on the couch next to Lorelai.  
  
"I need your help."  
  
"Wear the blue tank top and your white, glittery shorts."  
  
"Now look. Mommy's being serious for once, and her only daughter mocks her."  
  
"Sorry. You need help?"  
  
"Yes. I need you to go to Luke's and make sure he comes up with a good surprise."  
  
"Aww, it's so sweet that he's taking you away."  
  
"Ha, sweet. That is one word I never thought would be associated with Luke. I guess it is sweet though."  
  
"It is. And it's even sweeter that you trust him so much that you have your daughter check up on him!"  
  
Lorelai rolls her eyes. "Well, it's Luke. I just want to know that he's not going to take me somewhere away from civilization or something, since he fancies himself a loner."  
  
"What, like camping?"  
  
"Boy, camping. That sounds romantic."  
  
"Mom! You didn't tell me that this was a romantic thing!"  
  
"Oh, it's not. I was just using that, you know, for dramatic effect."  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Stop being so condescending! It's true!"  
  
"Okay Mom. I'll head over to Luke's now then."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"You're welcome. Do you want me to bring you back a coffee?"  
  
"Nah, I'm heading over there in a half hour or so anyway."  
  
"Alright, I'll probably see you there. Bye."  
  
Rory kisses Lorelai on the cheek, then heads out the door.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
At Luke's  
  
"Luke, I need-"  
  
"Coffee? Got it."  
  
"No, Luke, I wanted to ask you something."  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Maybe we should do this somewhere where there aren't so many people."  
  
Luke looks her up and down, then sighs. "Okay. You can go upstairs, I'll be up in a minute."  
  
"Thanks, Luke."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rory walks into the apartment. Sitting on the bed is a familiar face. "Jess."  
  
"Rory."  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Hi."  
  
There is a pause, as both wonder what to say to each other after what happened at the wedding. Finally, Jess asks her, "Is something the matter?"  
  
"No, no. I came up here to talk to Luke."  
  
"Well he's in the diner like usual. I guess he must have been in the storage room or something when you came up."  
  
"No, he's coming up in a minute. So how are you?"  
  
"Fine. You?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Good." Jess realizes that Rory is too embarrassed to say anything, so he will have to just plunge in. "We need to talk."  
  
"Yeah." Rory comes over and sits on the bed, next to him but not too close as to raise hopes for a repeat of the wedding.  
  
Jess opens his mouth to speak, but just then Luke walks in. "Jess."  
  
"That is me."  
  
"Rory wanted to talk to me, would you mind checking up on the diner?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. We'll talk later, Rory."  
  
"Yeah. Bye."  
  
Jess leaves the room. Luke turns to Rory. "So what did you want to talk about?"  
  
"My mother, actually."  
  
"Is she alright?"  
  
Rory laughs at the concern in his voice. It is obvious that he cares about her, why is she the only one who can't see it? "She's fine. I've been told you were taking her on vacation, and that it was a surprise."  
  
"I told her to pick where, but she didn't. Now it's killing her that she doesn't know, right?"  
  
"Basically. But she just wants to be able to hear that it is someplace good from me, not to actually know where you are going. So can I ask, where are you taking her?"  
  
"She's paranoid! I've known her for long enough, I know what she likes and doesn't like."  
  
"I know, and I think she does too, but she just wants to double check."  
  
"Well Rory, this has been enlightening, but I really have to get back down to the diner."  
  
"You're not going to tell me?"  
  
"Nope. Tell Lorelai she'll have to wait. She made the rules, now she has to play by them."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Bye Rory." And with that he heads downstairs, leaving Rory alone in his apartment.  
  
AN: What'd you think? I think my writing is changing, and it's annoying me. Am I paranoid like Lorelai? Tell me what you think, and give me ideas! albull_2000@yahoo.com!!! 


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